nydailynews:If Larry Brown is leaving, and it sure seems as if coaching 79-1/2 games around here is his absolute limit, then there have to be a few other changes on the Knicks starting today.
Firing Isiah Thomas would be a good place to start.
Isiah hired Brown, a move hailed by none other than Stephon Marbury as "a no-brainer," but the Knicks are worse off today than at any other time during Thomas' tenure as team president.
Their salary-cap situation is worse. Their roster is worse. Their chances of getting rid of all their losing players and bringing in some winning talent is worse. And, their coaching situation is worse, which is really saying something.
Who knew that Lenny Wilkens would turn out to be the best Hall of Fame coach the Knicks have had here since Isiah conned Jim Dolan and Steve Mills into believing he could resurrect the franchise. What's more, who would have believed that only nine months after bringing Brown to New York for what he called his "dream job," they might be embarking on another coaching search?
You can see it now: It's late June and Thomas is at the podium, smiling widely as he shakes hands with the new coach, Paul Silas. Heaven help us.
But the change should start in the top basketball suite. Isiah has had his chance. He's made more than enough moves, most of them bad. From a public-relations standpoint, with that sexual harassment lawsuit hanging over the Garden, he's done more damage than two GMs.
Dolan doesn't even have to consult with David Stern about finding a replacement for Isiah. Here's some free advice: Hire Kiki Vandeweghe. He's done a nice job building a playoff team in Denver. He's an ex-Knick, as was his dad, Ernie. The Nuggets' owner, Stan Kroenke, isn't interested in paying Vandeweghe the kind of money he is seeking. So Dolan, the undisputed king of overspending, can easily meet Vandeweghe's price.
But sadly, Dolan won't hold Thomas accountable for everything that has gone wrong on his watch, including the Brown debacle. When the Knicks hold exit interviews today, Thomas will give another state-of-the-team address, when he should be packing up his belongings and getting a security escort out of his Garden office.
It only makes sense, after this six-month disaster. The Knicks didn't have to win 35 games to give fans some hope. They didn't even have to challenge for the playoffs, even if you can do that just by showing up in the East. But with Brown in charge of what took place on the court, they had to at least show some progress. They had to come together and embrace a common goal of wanting to do whatever it took to win.
But here's what happened when everyone expected Brown to lead the turn-around: Most of the players, led by rebellious Starbury, packed it in, long ago. Then, as unbecoming as it is for someone with his credentials, Brown quit on his players, too. When it came to instilling discipline, Phil Jackson would have done a better job, as he has proven with the Lakers this season.
But the way Brown looks to be bowing out, with apparently the longest bout of acid reflux in recorded history, it's as shameful an exit as anyone has ever had. The final record, is the icing on the cake, even though a franchise-record 60th loss would have been the perfect ending.
In the coming weeks, Brown will probably wiggle his way out of New York and eventually land in Sacramento or some other safe haven where he can find a more receptive playmaker and a more appealing roster. When it comes to getting his freedom, there's nobody in the business who does it better. But he should know: What happened this season at the Garden never comes off his resume. And it is far, far worse than what happened over in Athens.
The sad part for Knicks fans is what they're stuck with now. As his maximum contract tops $18 million next season, with two more years to run at $42 million, Marbury is as untradeable as Eddy Curry, along with all the other high-priced players Thomas has imported.
"They're a collection of names," said Boston's Doc Rivers, in about the best summation of the Knicks.
The scariest thought of all is the franchise will continue to suffer through losing seasons, never being able to move Marbury, stuck on a treadmill to nowhere.
Now you see why Larry Brown wants to get off.
